The use of protective hearing devices and perceived noise disturbance and social climate in open office environments

Open office environments are architectural solutions that are believed to economize the use of office space and facilitate social interactions at work. However, research has shown that employees in open office environments may experience lower job satisfaction, stress reactions, and exhibit poorer performance. Exposure to noise in open office environments may prompt avoidance behaviours such as working from home, using meeting rooms for single use at work, or using protective hearing devices. We examine to what extent open office workers used protective hearing devices, and whether this use was related to reports of noise disturbance and if this use seemed to influence the perception of the social climate at work. Sixty-eight participants working in open office environments completed the survey. The participants worked within the same company and building but on three different floors. The use of protective devices, disturbance from noise, and social climate at work were assessed with questionnaires. The results showed that the participants were primarily disturbed by noise generated by colleagues. The social climate at work was in general perceived as relaxed and comfortable and encouraging and supportive. Fifty-four percent of the participants used protective hearing devices often or always, however this use was not significantly associated with perceived disturbance, self-rated hearing nor seemed to interact with the participants experience of the social climate at work. However, the participants frequent use of protective hearing devices is a behaviour that may interfere with the effectiveness of architectural and technical solutions such as sound masking that aim to add sounds designed to improve the intelligibly of speech and reduce overhearing.